05/31/2013

Peyton Randolph - First President of the United States

Ever heard of Peyton Randolph? Did you know he was the first president of the United States? Is the argument in his favour sound?

This one is not so much a case of mistaken achievement or a result of
the truth being lost to time as it is a technicality. George Washington
is and most likely always will be officially recognized as the first
president of the United States. But Peyton Randolph was the first
president of the Continental Congress, which governed the “United
Colonies of America” during the American Revolution, which would go on
to become the United States (obviously). A letter to Washington from one
of the so called “forgotten presidents,” John Hancock, was signed
“President,” and Washington’s reply was addressed to “The President of
the United States”. There were no fewer than 14 presidents before
Washington. The reason he is considered the first is because the rest
never served under the current constitution.
But it was because of many of the other forgotten presidents that the
US gained independence in the first place, and it hardly seems fair that
they be forgotten just because they had to be a confederation to do
this. Should every president prior to the entrance of Hawaii be dropped
to, since technically they were only president of some United States?